Irish Comic Dylan Moran Inks Pilot Script Deal With ABC Studios

EXCLUSIVE: There probably won’t be as much drinking and smoking as he’s done on UK TV, but Dylan Moran has closed a deal that could see him on American TV in the not-to-distant future. The BAFTA-winning Irish comic has signed an agreement with ABC Studios to create and write a pilot for him to star in for ABC, Deadline has learned. This would be Moran’s inaugural move into television on this side of the Atlantic. The details of the deal also have Moran producing the half hour pilot and series if they are ordered. The star and co-writer of the 2000-04 Channel 4 series Black Books in the UK, Moran has also appeared in the 2004 Edgar Wright-directed Shaun of the Dead and with Shaun star Simon Pegg again in 2007’s Run Fatboy Run. He’ll next be seen in the John Michael McDonagh-directed upcoming black comedy Calvary with Bridesmaids’ Chris O’Dowd and Harry Potter’s Brendan Gleeson. Moran will be touring the States next month with a new stand-up routine. Dylan Moran is repped by Kirsten Ames Management in the U.S., PBJ Management in the UK and attorney Jeffrey Bernstein.